FK Dinamo Tirana

FK Dinamo Tirana

Full name	Futboll Klub Dinamo Tirana
Nickname(s)	Dinamovitët, Blutë (The Blues), Nëndetësja Blu (Blue Submarine)
Founded	March 3, 1950 (1950-03-03)
Ground	Dinamo Stadium Tiranë, Albania
Ground Capacity	10,000
Chairman	Samir Mane
Manager	Igli Allmuça
League	Albanian First Division, Group B
2016–17	Albanian First Division, Group B, 8th
Home colours Away colours

Futboll Klub Dinamo Tirana is an Albanian football club based in the capital city Tiranë. They currently compete in the Albanian First Division and they play their home games primarily at the Selman Stërmasi Stadium, as well as other grounds in the city. Founded in 1950 during the communist regime, the club was historically affiliated to the Interior Ministry and having won 18 National Championships, it is considered to be the second most decorated club after local rivals KF Tirana.

History

A poster of Dinamo Tirana squad that won 2009–10 Albanian Superliga title.

The club was officially founded on 3 March 1950 by the Interior Ministry of Albania during the communist regime under dictator Enver Hoxha. In 1967, Dinamo won its 9th championship by leaving Tirana, then 17 Nëntori, one point behind, who was expelled for the tournament three weeks before the end.^[1] This championship is not officially recognized by UEFA, however.

In 1989, Dinamo eventually finished third in the league which was won by 17 Nëntori, which made eligible to play in European Cup Winners' Cup for the third time in their history.^[2] In the preliminary round of the tournament the team faced Chernomorets Burgas, losing the first leg 0–3 but winning the second 4–0 at home, recording thus the biggest win in UEFA club competitions.^[3] The team then was eliminated in the first round by Dinamo București despite winning the first leg.

In 1995 the team were renamed KS Olimpik Tirana to leave behind the "communist past", but the club returned to their original name two years later.^[4]

After finishing third in the table in 2005–06 season, Dinamo Tirana named Faruk Sejdini as their new coach. One of Albania's best teachers of footballing fundamentals, he had a spell at the club last term before being dismissed by president Besnik Sulaj. Having returned following a spell at Shkumbini Peqin, Sejdini said: "It's nice to be back." On 23 October 2006, he was fired.

At the start of the 2007–08 season, Agim Canaj took over as head coach, replacing Ilir Daja who led Dinamo towards the championship title, after a dramatic win against Partizani 2–1 in the final match, playing for 36 minutes with 9 players. In the summer of 2008, Ilir Daja moved into a position as director in order to make place for Marcelo Javier Zuleta from Argentina. The Argentinian coach also brought with him four Argentinian players; goalkeeper Daniel Bertoya, defender Alejandro Palladino, midfielder Agustín González, and striker Cristian Campozano. Zuleta only lasted for the first Champions League qualification match against Bosnians FK Modriča before he was replaced as coach by Artan Mërgjyshi, for only one match.

Together with Zuleta, the four Argentinian players also left the club. After Mërgjyshi left, Zlatko Dalić, the actual coach of Croatia U-21, was appointed as new coach for Dinamo. He signed a two-year contract with the club. That deal was broken when Dinamo lost its second game in the re-beginning of the 2008–09 season against Partizani. Shkëlqim Muça was then appointed manager of the club five days after of Zlatko Dalić's leave. In the 2009–10 season Dinamo won the championship again, registering its 18th success.^[5]

In 2011–12 season, the club experienced its worst period of all time, finishing last in the league with 13 points from 26 matches, winning only 3 time, relegated thus to the Albanian First Division for the first time in history.^[6] Since the 2012–13 season, the club plays in the Albanian First Division, risking several times relegation to the third tier.^[7]

Supporters

Blue Boys "Blue Boys" are an Ultras group for the Albanian football team, Dinamo Tirana. The group were formed in 2008 and have hundreds of members in first few years. They organise meetings and trips to matches in Tirana and also away matches in Albania and even abroad. They promote Dinamo Tirana to the local public and influence fans of the club in a number of ways.^[8]

Honours

Domestic

Albanian Superliga

• Winners (18): 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1960, 1966–67, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1979–80, 1985–86, 1989–90, 2001–02, 2007–08, 2009–10
• Runners-up (9): 1954, 1957, 1961, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1970–71, 1980–81, 1984–85, 2003–04

Albanian Cup

• Winners (13): 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1960, 1970–71, 1973–74, 1977–78, 1981–82, 1988–89, 1989–90, 2002–03
• Runners-up (6): 1972–73, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1981–82, 2001–02, 2003–04

Albanian Supercup

• Winners (2): 1989, 2008
• Runners-up (4): 1990, 2002, 2003, 2010

KS Dinamo Tirana in Europe

As of July 2, 2009.

Season	Competition	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away
1971–72	European Cup Winners' Cup	1R		FK Austria Wien	1–1	0–1
1980–81	European Cup	1R		AFC Ajax	0–2	0–1
1981–82	UEFA Cup	1R		FC Carl Zeiss Jena	1–0	0–4
1982–83	European Cup Winners' Cup	1R		Aberdeen F.C.	0–0	0–1
1985–86	UEFA Cup	1R		Ħamrun Spartans	1–0	0–0
		1R		Sporting Clube de Portugal	0–0	0–1
1986–87	European Cup	1R		Beşiktaş JK	0–1	0–2
1989–90	European Cup Winners' Cup	QR		PFC Chernomorets Burgas	4–0	1–3
		1R		FC Dinamo București	1–0	0–2
1990–91	European Cup	1R		Olympique Marseille	0–0	1–5
2001–02	UEFA Cup	1QR		FC Dinamo București	1–3	0–1
2002–03	UEFA Champions League	1QR		FBK Kaunas	0–0	3–2
		2QR		Brøndby IF	0–4	0–1
2003–04	UEFA Cup	QR		KSC Lokeren	0–4	1–3
2004–05	UEFA Cup	1QR		FC Oțelul Galați	1–4	0–4
2005	UEFA Intertoto Cup	1R		NK Varteks	2–1	1–4
2006–07	UEFA Cup	1QR		PFC CSKA Sofia	0–1	1–4
2008–09	UEFA Champions League	1QR		FK Modriča	0–2	1–2
2009–10	UEFA Europa League	1QR		FC Lahti	2–0	1–4
2010–11	UEFA Champions League	2QR		Sheriff Tiraspol	1–0	1–3

• QR = Qualifying Round
• 1R = 1st Round
• 2R = 2nd Round
• Clubs which ultimately won the tournament in that same season are indicated in bold

Current squad

As of 12 October 2015^[9]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Marsel Caka GK Kadri Birja DF Bazjon Trogaj DF Ymer Shaba DF Klaudio Rexhepi DF Roland Peqini DF Julian Brahja DF Ilir Allmuça DF Luan Tafa DF Elvi Bogdani MF Albert Caca MF Enkel Alikaj

No. Position Player MF Arvis Gjata MF Valentino Murataj MF Erald Turdiu MF Erxhan Muça MF Kevin Myslimi MF Emiljano Shehaj MF Ugochukwu Osuagwu MF Senad Sallaku MF Klodian Nuri FW Julian Gerxho FW Gëzim Hyska FW Effiong Eyoh

Managers

Managerial records

Name	Superliga	Albanian Cup	Supercup	Total
Gjinali, ZihniZihni Gjinali	6	—	—	6
Jareci, SkënderSkënder Jareci	2	—	—	2
Shehu, DurimDurim Shehu	2	—	—	2
Muça, ShkëlqimShkëlqim Muça	1	—	—	1
Lubonja, StavriStavri Lubonja	1	—	—	1
Frashëri, FatmirFatmir Frashëri	1	—	—	1
Birçe, BejkushBejkush Birçe	1	—	—	1
Sejdini, FarukFaruk Sejdini	1	—	—	1
Daja, IlirIlir Daja	1	—	—	1
Peqini, SabriSabri Peqini	1	—	—	1
Konçi, ZyberZyber Konçi	1	—	—	1

Managers

• Fatmir Frashëri
• Artan Marxhysmi
• Faruk Sejdini (July 2001 – June 2)
• Aurel Țicleanu (2002–03)
• Agim Canaj (May 2003 – June 3)
• Andrea Marko (Aug 2003 – Oct 03)
• Luka Bonačić (July 2005 – Feb 06)
• Agim Canaj (Aug 2005 – June 8)
• Marcelo Javier Zuleta (July 2008 – Dec 08)
• Zlatko Dalić (July 2008 – Aug 09)
• Shkëlqim Muça (Feb 2009 – May 10)
• Luis Manuel Blanco (July 2010 – Dec 10)
• Ilir Daja (Dec 2010 – Feb 11)
• Artan Mërgjyshi (Feb 2011 – Sept 11)
• Faruk Sejdini (Sept 2011 – Nov 11)
• Artan Mërgjyshi (Nov 2011 – Jun 2012)
• Eduard Zhupa (Jun 2012–)

References

External links

• Dinamo Tirana at UEFA.COM
• Dinamo Tirana at EUFO.DE
• Dinamo Tirana at Football-Lineups.com
• Soccerpedia schedule Dinamo Tirana
• Albania-sport.com
• Albanian Soccer News
• Shqiperia-Futboll